Emily Powell, president of Powell's Books, discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the independent bookstore's staffing levels and layoffs with Guy Raz.
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“The number fluctuates a little bit, especially this year of COVID, but we're right around 200 employees. We were about 500 before this, so we're still nowhere close to where we'd like to be.”
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Powell: Powell's closed and laid off staff before Oregon mandated shutdowns
“The governor hadn't moved yet to close us down. I think a lot of folks thought we were responding to, you know, a demand, but no, we felt really the compulsion that we need to do what we have to protect Portland. And so we shut down in the middle of the day, w…”
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Disclosure
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Disclosure
Emily Powell: Powell's requires 9 AM to 9 PM pedestrian traffic
“So we say to be successful, we need nine AM to nine PM pedestrian traffic.”
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